


Save

by DARWIN51



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: AU, F/F, Holtzbert - Freeform, before the movie, cute awkward holtz, emt, erin and holtz meeting, erin's an emt, ghostbusters - Freeform, holtz blew something up, it was a medium poof, mostly just fluff, pre-Holtzbert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-09 23:51:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16459448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DARWIN51/pseuds/DARWIN51
Summary: Pre-movie oneshot. Holtzmann's newest invention explodes in the Higgins basement, and Abby insists she should get medical attention. Against Holtz's wishes, Abby calls an ambulance, and a reluctant Holtz may have found a new friend in the cute EMT, Erin.





	Save

**Author's Note:**

> I absolutely love the whole fanon interpretation of Holtz, being sexually confident and hilarious. However, I wanted to take a little break from writing that Holtz to go back to the way she was portrayed in my old story, "Fight or Flight": socially awkward, keeps to herself, etc. I can't be sure which type of Holtz Paul and Katie intended, but I've read a lot of fics on here and haven't met a Holtz I didn't like :)

**2012**

Abby absently licked ranch dip off her fingertips and reached into the bowl for another baby carrot, not taking her eyes away from the television screen. Her fingers hit the bottom of the plastic bowl and she finally looked up, coming out of her television trance.

She stood up from the cheap plastic chair and brought the bowl over to the sink of the Higgins basement break room, mostly only used by her, Holtzmann, and occasionally some female professors when the upstairs break room became too full of testosterone. Right now though, she was alone.

She picked up the black walkie-talkie from the table. “Holtzmann, you coming or what? It’s really heating up.” Abby glanced at the score of the tennis match again.

It was almost a full minute later when Holtz’s answer crackled through the radio, “Be there in a sec, Abs. Little busy. Think I’m onto something.”

Abby sighed and sat back down.

Not ten seconds later, a _BOOM_ that was felt more than heard, shook the building and caused the lamp to flicker.

She instantly knew where it had come from. She shot up and bolted down the hallway towards the lab.

As she pushed the door open, light smoke spilled out, and settling dust obscured her view, centering around Holtz’s work table. The metal shelving unit against the back wall wasn’t there anymore, leaving an odd empty spot on the wall.

“Holtz!?” Abby pushed her way through the various equipment and tables that littered their lab, which had been frowned upon by the fire marshall numerous times. She finally understood him. “Holtzy?”

“Don’t move!” Holtz warned loudly in a rare no-nonsense tone. “Abby, grab the jug of Speedy-Dry by the door. Dump all of it over my worktable, and the floor around it. Don’t do anything until it’s covered completely, and try not to inhale too much.”

Abby obeyed, stocking her arms with jugs of Speedy-Dry and pouring it on the worktable. She saw a few small puddles of a white substance, starting to bubble. She covered all of it, coughing at the dust, and also covered a few spots on the floor too. She still didn’t see Holtzmann.

“Okay, it’s all clear. Where the hell are you? Are you okay?” Abby paced over toward the tipped shelving unit.

“I’m fine.” A voice called from the floor, right near Abby’s foot.

Abby quickly stepped back and looked down. The smoke had cleared by now, and she saw Holtz trying to push her way out from under the tipped metal shelving unit. “Oh, Jeez.” Abby struggled to lift the shelf enough for Holtz to roll out from underneath it.

She watched carefully as Holtzmann easily popped up from the floor, wincing once, and dusted off. “Uh, sorry.” Holtz took in the mess. Everything that had been on the shelf was now scattered across the floor, including bins of screws, bolts, and other junk.

Fortunately, the damage did seem to be limited to the shelf.

“You okay? I’ll get the car, you should probably go to an Urgent Care.” Abby stepped forward to take a closer look at Holtz, but Holtz stepped back.

“No, I’m good.”

“Holtz, come on. That wasn’t exactly a little poof.”

 “Sorry, I’ll uh, clean everything.”

“Holtz I’m worried about _you._ What blew up?”

Holtz picked up her stool off the floor and set it upright. “Nothing. Thought I could create a sort of device that shoots a proton stream. Powered by this,” Holtz pointed to a glass vial on the table, which had broken in the blast and spilled the white liquid. A radioactive sticker had started to melt off after being exposed to the liquid inside. “Must’ve been a leak somewhere.” Holtz picked up her device off the floor, one half of it dangling by a few stripped wires. She dropped it into a garbage can, defeated. “Stupid.”

“Don’t worry about it right now. Let’s get you cleaned up, c’mon. How close were you when it blew up?” With the care of a mother, Abby took Holtz’s hand and stood her up. She lifted the amber goggles away from Holtz’s eyes, and the contrast was stark, almost comical. Her face was redder and dirtier than the skin under the goggles.

Holtz didn’t hear the question, enveloped in an impenetrable layer of shame.

“Nevermind, don’t worry about it. Get in the chemical shower before we find out what this does to your skin.”

Holtz trudged over to the emergency shower which truthfully was used way too often by the duo.

Abby went to grab the spare clothes from Holtz’s locker, kept specifically for this purpose. By the time she returned, Holtz stood fully clothed and sopping wet in the shower, shivering. 

Abby threw a towel over her shoulders. “C’mon. The locker rooms will be empty by now. All our sports teams are pretty much eliminated before the season even starts.”

Holtz stepped out of the shower and followed Abby to the door, stripping off wet layers down to her pants and t-shirt.

As they climbed the stairs, Holtz stumbled at the landing but Abby didn’t notice. By the time she reached the top though, Holtz had gone pale white and bright spots flashed across her vision. She stumbled onto the last step before Abby looked back and took notice.

“Hey! Holtzmann, you okay?” Abby grabbed her friend under the armpits and pulled her up the last step.

“M’okay.” Holtz mumbled, starting to come back from it and realizing how close her face was to the floor.  

Abby held Holtz’s elbow as she gradually got back to her feet. “You really should see someone.”

“I just got lightheaded. Skipped lunch.” Holtz came back to her senses and started walking again.

Abby didn’t let go of her arm. “Did you hit your head?”

“No.”

“You sure?”

Holtz pushed Abby’s hand away and walked ahead without a word.

Abby recognized this side of her friend. “Holtzmann, it’s not your fault that it blew up.”

Holtz ignored her, pushing open the locker room door.

Abby followed her through rows of lockers. “Who cares? We blow stuff up all the time!”

Holtz grunted, opening a shower stall and throwing on the knob.

“Stop.” Abby blocked the shower stall with her arm. “Did something else happen?”

Holtz looked confused.

“Is there something… y’know, personal going on?” Abby and Holtz rarely discussed their personal lives. Well, Abby could sometimes go on a tangent about her family during Thanksgiving or something, but Holtz was mostly just entertained by these stories, and never really shared anything about herself. Something could be going on and she wouldn’t tell Abby about it.

Then again, every time Holtz has been upset in front of Abby, it was always work-related micro frustrations or perceived personal failure over some gadget or theory.

Holtz’s shoulders slumped. “No. I just, really thought I was onto something with that. Now it’s destroyed.”

“Oh. You can make another one, right?”

“I don’t remember.” Holtz started unbuttoning her pants.

Abby knew she wouldn’t get past the zipper unless Abby was completely out of the room, so she set Holtz’s dry clothes and towel on the bench and walked to the other side of the room. “I’m facing the wall but I’m not leaving. I don’t need you passing out on me again.”

Holtz didn’t answer, but Abby heard her step into the shower.

A few minutes later, she shut the water shut off and poked her head around the corner. Abby had left the towel out on the bench, in plain view. Thankfully, it looked like Abby was gone, and the rest of the locker room was empty. Holtz darted out and snagged the towel, wrapping it around herself quickly. “Ab?”

No answer.

She finished dressing. The backup clothes in her locker consisted of a jean button-down and white-and-black plaid pajama pants. Underwear, but no bra. She mentally slapped herself, like she hadn’t already been mentally beating herself up for the entirety of the shower. She slipped her bare feet into some flip flops and stuffed her wet clothes and shoes into a plastic garbage bag Abby had left. She hated the way her hair looked down, so she threw it back into a bun as best she could, frustrated at the blond ringlets that still fell around her face.

When she stepped out of the showers and into the main locker room, she was greeted by the sight of Abby talking to two EMTs standing near a stretcher.

“Holtzmann, I just think you should get checked out.” Abby said.

Holtz shot her a hurt, betrayed look.

“We’re just gonna do a little assessment, okay? That’s all.” The paramedic said, clearly having been told by Abby that Holtz was very much against this.

Perfect. The icing on the cake.

“Have a seat right here, we’ll get you checked out.” He pointed to a bench against the wall.

Holtz sat down, defeated.

“What’s your name?”

“Jillian Holtzmann.” She watched the other EMT enter the information in a laptop. “Two L’s, two N’s.”

The other woman nodded without looking up.

“Do you know where you are?”

“At work.” Holtz answered automatically. “Higgins Institute for Higher Learning.”

Abby snorted a laugh at the words ‘higher learning’. Neither of them had ever said that without being sarcastic.

“Do you know what day it is?”

Holtz provided the date, along with her birth date, home address, and other mandatory information the guy asked for.

 _Then_ the dreaded words. “I’m gonna check you over, okay? Make sure everything’s doing what it’s supposed to? First thing I wanna do is check your pupils and feel the back of your neck and head, okay? Tell me if anything hurts.”

She nodded, and he reached his gloved hands around the back of her neck, pushing on her spine and the base of her skull. By the time he reached into her hair to feel her head, she ducked away to the side and stood up quickly, a shiver running down her back. “No no no, stop!”

“Sorry,” Abby apologized for her. “She doesn’t really like people touching her.” To be honest, Abby didn’t either, and felt bad for making her friend sit through this. “Holtzy, you gotta let him help you, he’s a professional.”

“Would you be more comfortable if she did it?” The paramedic gestured to his partner.

Holtz still looked unsure.

“And I step out of the room?” He added.

Holtz made eye contact with the EMT, her reddish hair pulled back in a ponytail and the tactical belt looking out of place on her small frame. She looked put on the spot, nervous, and Holtz’s eyes flitted away instantly.

“I guess.” Holtz said.

The man left his bag and stepped out of the locker room, while Holtz resumed her spot on the bench.

“Hi,” The woman seemed to pull a layer of professionalism over her nervous demeanor. “I’m Erin. Do you prefer to be called Jillian or Jill?”

“Um, Jillian is fine.” Holtz didn’t look at her again.

“Hi Jillian. Mind if I check your pupils real quick?”

Holtz gave a small nod, and was forced to look up at the EMT again.

Erin shone her penlight in each eye, which caused Holtz to be hit with another wave of dizziness and lightheadedness, but she hid it well. As her vision came back, she tried to focus on Erin’s nose, or anything but her eyes. Erin seemed satisfied, and put her penlight away. “Put your arm across your chest like this.” Erin put one fist to her opposite shoulder, like she was doing the pledge. Holtz obeyed, and Erin slipped her hand under Holtz’s wrist. “Just checking your pulse. Breathe normally.”

Holtzmann absolutely hated the following fifteen seconds of silence, forgetting what “normal breathing” was the more she thought about it. She looked once at Erin who was checking her watch, once at Abby who looked back at her, and then quickly looked away from both of them, worried Erin could somehow read her mind by feeling her heartbeat.  

“Okay.” Erin took her hand away and typed something into the computer. She pulled out a Velcro strap from a different machine and wrapped it around Holtz’s arm. “This is just gonna take your blood pressure, it’ll squeeze a little bit.”

Right, like Holtz didn’t know what a blood pressure cuff does. Was she really coming off as that scared and pathetic that Erin had to treat her like a child?

The cuff squeezed and deflated on its own, connected to a monitor which now showed her heart rate and blood pressure on a screen. Holtz didn’t like that information being displayed so publicly.

“Is your blood pressure normally low?” Erin asked.

“Um,” Holtz’s voice cracked. “I don’t know. I think so.”

“Is that bad?” Abby interrupted, pointing to the monitor.

“No, just on the low side. Still within normal range.” Erin reassured. “I’m gonna feel your neck and head, okay?”

Holtz nodded, feeling a slight bit more comfortable than a few minutes ago when Erin’s slender hands reached around behind her neck and pressed lightly on the back of her head.

Her hands pressed their way around the front until they reached her forehead. “No pain?” Erin asked.

“No.”

“Anything here?” Erin pressed lightly around her eyes, cheekbones, and nose.

“No.” It was getting really hard to keep avoiding eye contact with Erin’s face right in front of hers. Holtz wished she would move on already.

Erin’s hands went to her back again. “I’m gonna feel your spine, okay?” She ran her hands down Holtz’s back. “Your friend told us you showered after the explosion, right?”

“Yeah.” Twice.

“Did you notice any blood in the shower? Anywhere”

“No.”

“Nothing unusual?”

“No.” Holtz pictured a little toe growing out of her kneecap.

“Okay, good. Bruising probably won’t appear just yet, but you’ll probably have a few bruises if a shelf fell on top of you.”

Holtz looked up at Abby, wondering how much she’d already told them.

Abby gave a shrug that said she didn’t do anything wrong.

Holtz huffed softly and turned back to Erin.

“How close were you to the blast point?” Erin asked.

“Um. I was standing right over it. At my desk.”

“So like one foot? One and a half?”

“About.”

Erin typed something into her computer again. “Any trouble breathing after that?”

“No. I got the wind knocked out of me but that’s it.”

Erin ran her hands across Holtz’s collarbone. Holtz flinched when she reached her right shoulder, and Erin noted it but didn’t say anything. “Okay. I’m gonna feel your sternum and ribs, okay?”

That seemed pretty intimate to Holtz, but she nodded, afraid saying no might get her taken to the hospital, where they would just touch her anyway.

Erin gently ran the side of her hand down from Holtz’s neck, like she was karate-chopping her. She put her hands on each side of Holtz’s abdomen and pressed her ribs lightly. “Anything hurt?”

Holtz flinched and hissed suddenly when Erin hit a particular spot. “No.” She said afterward.

“That didn’t look like a no.” Erin said.

Holtz thought she was in trouble.

“Right here?” Erin pressed the spot on Holtz’s right side again gently.

“I guess that hurt a little, yeah.”

“Yeah.” Erin said, as if confirming her suspicions. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you had a bruised or broken rib being so close to an explosion. The initial force of air can easily be strong enough to break bones.”

Holtz, a _physicist_ , already knew this.

“Well,” Erin seemed to rethink. “You’ve already been up and walking around,”

“Climbing stairs.” Abby added.

“Right, and you weren’t in excruciating pain up to this point?”

“No.” Holtz said with confidence, glad she didn’t have to lie about this one.

“Let me just test…” Erin pressed on Holtz’s sternum again, harder.

Holtz didn’t flinch much.

“Yeah. If it were broken, you’d be screaming.”

Holtz had a brief sexual thought but quickly silenced it.

“Can I take a quick look at your abdomen? Just wanna make sure there’s no visible bruising that could indicate a serious internal injury.” Erin fingered the bottom of Holtz’s shirt, waiting for permission.

Holtz was kinda pissed she’d phrased it like that. ‘Serious internal injury’. Can’t exactly say ‘no’ when she put it like that. She reluctantly nodded, unsure of where to put her hands while Erin lifted the front of her shirt up to the bottom of her ribcage.

Holtz shivered at the exposed skin.

“I’m gonna palpate your stomach, okay? Tell me if anything hurts at all.” Erin pressed on Holtz’s stomach, heavier than her other palpations.

Holtz flinched away at a certain spot.

“Hurts? Here?” Erin pressed it again, concern darkening her features, and Holtz pulled away again.

“No…” She said.

A knowing smile spread across Erin’s face, and Holtz was taken by how different it made her look. “Ticklish?” Erin asked.

“… Yeah.” Her voice cracked.

“Don’t worry.” Erin said, putting Holtz’s shirt back down. “Lots of people are. Were you hit by any shrapnel or anything?”

“No.”

“The shelving unit fell on her!” Abby reminded them.

“Any pain from that? Where did it land on you?” Erin asked while performing smaller examinations on Holtz’s arms and legs.

“My legs, but it was fine.” Holtz said.

“It was across her chest too.” Abby said.

Erin frowned. “I’m worried about bruising. Mind if I check your chest real quick? You can keep your bra on, I just wanna take a little peek at your ribs.”

Oh, perfect, the bra thing.

“I’ll turn around.” Abby offered.

“I’m uh, my bra got wet from the shower. I don’t uh, have one on.”

Erin sat back, respecting Holtz’s space, but also gave a lame shrug. “Honestly, I see so many parts of so many people every day, it’s all just a blur. I won’t if you absolutely don’t want me to, but I’d feel a lot better letting you go if I knew you didn’t have massive bruising somewhere I didn’t check. We’re all girls here.”

Abby grinned wide, holding back a laugh as she turned to face the wall.

Yeah, that line was funny to her. She knew about Holtzmann’s sexuality, and was always offering to wingman, though Holtz had _never_ taken her up on that offer. But to Holtz, especially on a shitty day like today where she’s already down on herself, that line brought up old stuff. Stuff that hurts. Especially being in a literal girls locker room, the setting of the majority of Holtzmann’s sexuality-related bullying during her high school years. ‘We’re all girls here’ never included her, leaving her isolated to one corner of the locker room, and nobody else dared to go near her. God fucking forbid.

“No.” Holtz clenched her fist around the open collar of her shirt, pulling the two sides together above the top button.

Abby turned back around. “Holtzy, come on! She’s a professional, it’s just like being at the doctor’s.”

As if Abby and Holtz haven’t had endless conversations about how much they hated OB/GYN visits.

Holtz knew Erin would let this go, but Abby never would. Abby would probably make her go to the hospital later. She’d get lectured about ‘dying of embarrassment’ and stuff like that. Defeated, she released her shirt collar and Abby turned back around.

Erin looked torn. “You can cover yourself with your hands if you want. I’m just gonna look at your ribs, okay?”

“Whatever.” Holtz said barely above a whisper, and undid the top few buttons to give Erin better access. She didn’t bother covering herself; why not just pile on and make this day even worse?

“I’ll make it quick.” Erin wasn’t sure what had just shifted in her patient, but she felt bad now too. “Ooh,” She let out a sympathetic hiss without thinking as she looked at Holtz’s chest. “I think I can see where the shelf fell, and it’s bruising.”

Holtz looked down.

“it starts here on your shoulder,” Erin pointed.

Holtz snapped her shirt closed again, seeing Erin’s gloved finger get too close. Then she looked back down at herself. What had looked like a barely red, slightly puffy line in the shower was now a purpling and very painful looking bruise that ran diagonally from her shoulder down across her chest, with a few broken blood vessels along the way. And of course, as if her embarrassment wasn’t complete, the purple bruise line on her chest ran straight across her right nipple.

Looking down at herself, she let out a slight huff of a laugh at how ridiculously terrible this day was going.

Erin saw the laugh, and smiled herself. “It is kinda funny.” She said, thinking she was agreeing with Holtz about the unfortunate location of the bruise.

That could’ve easily made Holtz feel like shit. Having to show her naked chest to a stranger, and the stranger then laughing at her about it? That could have pushed her self-hatred further, considering Holtz isn’t good at reading people and can’t always tell when someone’s intentions are good or bad. But something about Erin, she could tell it was well-intentioned, and the breaking of Erin’s ‘EMT character’ made it an even more intimate moment to Holtz, like they were friends or something.

Abby was Holtzmann’s only friend, and Abby didn’t even know that.

Seeing Erin, she started to laugh a little more, pretending in her mind that she and Erin were friends, just hanging out. This is probably what someone looks like when they’re hanging out with friends.

Erin was just laughing along with Holtz now, oblivious, but for a few seconds, it felt _so unbelievably good_ for Holtz to pretend.

“What’s so funny?” Abby asked. “Can I turn around yet?”

Holtz buttoned her shirt back up.

“You should get some ice on that.” Erin reached into her bag, still smiling at the fact that [she thought] she’d made the nervous woman in front of her laugh. She cracked an ice pack and handed it to Holtz.

Abby turned around and saw Holtzmann hold an ice pack to her breast. “What did you do?”

“Cushioned the shelf’s landing.” She said, _beyond thrilled_ when she watched Erin struggle not to crack up over that.

“Oh-ho.” Abby laughed. “Ouch.”

“Cushioned it a _little bit._ ” Holtz added. “Maybe some swelling wouldn’t be such a bad idea.”

Erin laughed again. “Same, honestly. Feeling a little bit better, Jillian?” She asked.

Holtz nodded.

“Good.” She said. “That being said, I really think you should go to the hospital just to be safe.”

“What?” Holtz’s face dropped.

“They’ll just wanna get an x-ray of your head. Your friend told us you nearly blacked out earlier, and you looked like you were gonna black out again when I shone my light in your eyes.”

Oh, she _had_ noticed that.

“No.” Holtz said, fear edging her voice again.

“Holtzy.” Abby warned.

“I _really_ think you should go. I can’t make you go, but I’m definitely not comfortable leaving you here.” Erin said gently.

“I don’t wanna make a big deal of this.” Holtz insisted.

“We can take you over there, no flashing lights or sirens or anything. You’ll get an x-ray, maybe something for the pain, they’ll probably find that you have a concussion, which people get all the time, not a super big deal, but still something that should be checked on, because it can lead to much bigger deals if it’s left untreated, okay? Once they know everything’s good, you hop in a cab and go home, and take it easy for a few days. And we all get peace of mind knowing you’re not gonna die in your sleep or something. I promise you, it’s a lot smaller deal if you go with us now than if something bad happens later. Okay Jillian? Sound good?”

As soon as she used the word ‘die’, Holtz knew she had to go, or face Abby’s wrath. Shit like that scared Abby beyond belief.

She could annoyingly hear Abby take in a breath to say what Holtz already knew she would say. “Ho—“ Abby started.

“I know! I’ll go, okay?”

Erin and Abby both looked relieved. “I’ll grab my partner and we’ll get everything packed up, okay?”

“Do I have to get on the stretcher?” Holtz asked.

“Yes.”

“Shit.”

Erin ducked out of the room for a moment and returned with the paramedic.

Abby stayed with Holtz until she was loaded in the ambulance, then said to call once she got there and when they got the x-rays and when she needed a ride home and all that shit a grandmother worries about.

To Holtz’s delight, Erin got in the back with her while the paramedic sat up front to drive. Erin pulled the doors shut behind her and they pulled out into traffic.

The hum of the engine and various machinery in the ambulance made it so Erin would have to shout to talk to anyone up front.

“Thank you for making the right choice here. I think your friend would’ve been really worried if you hadn’t.”

Holtz shrugged. “She’s just too used to it. I usually don’t make the right choices.”

Erin laughed a little.

Holtz looked down at her fingers in her lap, twisting them together. She felt like she was in one of those dreams about school where everyone’s at their desks but she’s in her bed and everyone’s staring at her. She tried to keep up conversation, to sound more intelligent than someone who’s sleeping in class. She wondered if she could bring up the ‘doctorate of physics’ thing. That usually impresses people. Instead, she found herself asking. “So your partner up there… “

Erin waited for the rest of the sentence but Holtz froze up. “Yes…?”

“You think he’s cute?” Holtz pushed out.

Erin laughed. “Can’t say I see it. Why, do you?”

“Oh, no no no. I uh… “

“I’m actually not really into men.”

Holtz almost passed out again right there. Her features started to articulate into an intrigued expression.

“That is what you were trying to ask, right?” Erin said, smiling.

Holtz’s stomach sank like she was in trouble, and this time Erin could read it clear on her face.

“Hey, it’s okay. I didn’t mean that in a bad way.”

Holtz just looked into Erin’s eyes, trying to decipher what this interaction meant, and what humans normally do in conversation. As soon as she realized Erin was looking back though, she tore her eyes away.

Erin read this nervousness. She tried to bring it back around. “Technically, you’re still my patient, so I have to wait until after my shift to tell you I think you’re cute.”

Holtz was shocked. Honestly she couldn’t tell before if this was going in a positive direction or if Erin was completely making fun of her. She was leaning toward making fun. Her mouth went dry. “Wh- when is your shift over?”

Erin checked her watch. “Two hours. I’ll come by and check on you after, if you want. If you’re not interested, please don’t be afraid to say so.” She seemed to pick up some of Holtz’s nervousness.

Great, two insecure lesbian messes in one ambulance.

“Um, yeah… I think I want.” Holtz said, before realizing that wasn’t a complete sentence. “…you to stop by. If you want. If you’re not busy.”

“Of course.” Erin smiled again.

Was this all a trick? Holtz wasn’t sure. She was afraid she was already gonna do something to mess up this relationship. They were in a relationship now, right? This means they’re dating? Holtz didn’t exactly have many relationships in the past to base this on. She found it very hard to open up to someone physically, and ten times harder to open up emotionally. And by that point, the other person always lost interest and moved on.

That’s probably how this one would go, too. She hadn’t so much as kissed anybody in a long time, so maybe she could get to kiss Erin before they broke up?

Of course they would break up. Nobody could stand Holtz 24/7 once they got to know her. It’s not like she has crippling social anxiety, but it’s very hard for her to read people. She’s so used to _needing_ interaction but not having it. Wanting it from afar. Having to work impossibly hard for it. When Abby first showed interest in working with Holtz, the engineer had been equally thrown off. Nobody had treated her like an equal before. She didn’t know what to do with that power. It was almost uncomfortable. But she got used to it, and loved being around Abby now.

Could she be that way with Erin? Could this be something new that Holtz just has to get used to, or would Erin break up with her before they got the chance?

Holtz could take the pain of another dating mishap to log in her books, if it meant getting to know Erin. Erin looked so soft and nice, it was hard to picture her breaking up with someone.

In fact, it was a lot easier to picture her on the couch, with Holtz curled up in her arms, stroking her hair and laughing together…

“When we get inside, I’ll get you set up in a room and a doctor will probably ask you questions, to assess your head injury. I’ll let them know you have some bruising on your chest, but that it’s nothing big, and I can pretty much promise nobody will ask to look at your chest, okay?” Erin informed her.

Wow. Of course Erin had picked up that Holtz was nervous, but for her to take the time and explain everything just because she knew it would make Holtz more comfortable, was incredible.

Holtz knows, from at least one work-related emergency room visit in the past, that EMTs and nurses are so busy, especially in New York City, they don’t really bother to do much besides dump the patient from room to room as needed.

Holtz could only nod, and the ambulance came to a stop.

“Are you coming in with me?” Holtz asked.

Erin smiled, pushing the back doors open into bright lights. “Of course.”

~//~

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I know there's a whole "playing doctor" trope when it comes to relationship stories, but I'd consider this more of a "studying for my EMT refresher trauma assessment practical". And since THIS is the way I study, I wouldn't reccomend getting in my ambulance, guys. Leave a comment and I'll love you forever! No joke!!!!


End file.
